Alright couple of things to unpack here, obviously Dylan Harper is the most talked about hoops recruiting topic on this board since Ace Bailey? Cliff Omoruyi? Mike Rosario? Ever?
Regardless, let’s start with the latest on Harper's recruitment.
TKR has confirmed that Harper will be on campus this weekend for an official visit along with the rest of the recruiting class (Bailey, Dortch, Sommerville). Dylan Grant is obviously part of the class too, but won’t be able to make it this weekend due to his schedule. Nonetheless, he's still very solidly committed and rising through the rankings as well, as he's now No. 129 overall.
All of the visitors are expected to arrive in New Jersey some time on Friday and that includes both Bailey and Harper who are making the trip from Las Vegas to New Jersey, as the duo is participating in the Wooten 150 camp on Thursday, which is one of the nation’s top recruiting events each year. Some of you might remember this as the camp that former Scarlet Knight Jaden Jones lit up and emerged as one of the nation’s best prospects.
Now where does this leave Harper’s recruitment?
There was some talk about Auburn and Kansas as potential visits, but with only a few weekends left until the start of a very busy senior year for Harper and his Don Bosco program, it’s going to be very hard to sneak in those trips in. The current rumor is that he wants to decide before his senior year, so it’s not a distraction during the season for either him or his team. Will that happen? Who knows, as this recruitment has been under wraps for quite some time with only Dylan Harper himself, truly knowing when he will decide. So stay tuned this weekend as I’m sure anyone and everyone who follows Rutgers or hoops recruiting will be tuned into their phones to see if anything happens in regards to Harper’s recruitment.
Another name that is also coming to campus, but not a part of the 2024 class, but rather the 2025 class is Trey McKenney out of Michigan and from the sound of it, there’s some SMOKE brewing here (See what I did there).
From the sound of it, Rutgers is doing a GREAT job here with McKenney and that’s all thanks to new assistant coach Marlon "Smoke" Williamson, who has ties to McKenney’s AAU program The Family and the state of Michigan in general. He’s been after McKenney ever since he joined the team this offseason and has been putting in massive amounts of work, showing love and being there to watch McKenney play and workout whenever possible. I wouldn’t go as far as to call the Scarlet Knights the favorite YET, but a good visit this weekend should solidify their spot near the top as I expect them to be in it here until the end.
Last but not least, Rutgers also hosted an official visitor this past weekend in Nigel James out of Long Island Lutheran High School. James is being recruited by asst. coach TJ Thompson as he is a New England kid and Thompson not only has deep ties to the area, but also has a good relationship with his AAU program (Expressions Elite) as it’s the same program that Gavin Griffiths came from.
Going into the Rutgers visit, the feeling was that James was leaning elsewhere with Providence and Syracuse making some moves on their recent official visits with the three-star point guard. However the Scarlet Knights made up some serious ground this weekend and this one is a much closer race than previously expected. James has one more visit scheduled for Wake Forest on October 20th, but keep an eye out as he could potentially make a Fall decision not too long after that.
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